Brighton have confirmed that defender Jan Paul van Hecke has been discharged from hospital. Van Hecke, 24, needed oxygen and was put in a neck brace following a collision which happened late in the Seagulls’ chaotic 4-2 loss away to Brentford on Saturday.
Having clashed in the air with Brentford midfielder Yunus Konak, Van Hecke initially sat up but medical staff quickly laid him back down after noticing that there was a problem. While Konak was able to later walk off the pitch, Brighton’s medical staff treated the Dutchman for nine minutes before he was stretchered off and replaced by January signing Eiran Cashin.
Brighton issued an update on Saturday night which read: “After being stretchered off at the end of today’s game, Jan Paul van Hecke was taken to hospital as a precaution but has now been discharged and is on his way back to Brighton. Thank you to everyone who sent us your messages of concern and support for JP.”
Asked for an update post-match, Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler told BBC Sussex: “No, I can’t say anything about that at the moment. All we can say is that we hope that he will be back on the pitch as soon as possible. Hopefully he will have a good recovery.”
Brentford boss Thomas Frank added: “[Konyak] is good. I was more worried about Van Hecke. I hope he’s well, we saw him, he looks okay, but I haven’t spoken to him yet.”
Van Hecke started the match after serving a ban following his red card against Crystal Palace earlier this month. The 24-year-old has made 35 appearances in all competitions this season and scored one goal.
His injury compounded a bad day at the office for Brighton, who’ve now gone six games without a win. The Seagulls found themselves 1-0 down after nine minutes before Danny Welbeck equalised in first-half stoppage time.
Brentford forward Bryan Mbeumo grabbed his second goal of the game shortly after the break before strikes from Yoane Wissa and Christian Norgaard either side of what proved to be a consolation effort from Kaoru Mitoma. Between Brentford’s third and fourth goals, Brighton striker Joao Pedro was shown a straight red card for violent conduct.
During the second half, the travelling Brighton fans chanted ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’ towards Hurzeler after he subbed off Welbeck while his side were chasing two goals. When asked what he thought about the chants, Hurzeler replied: “That’s fine. They have their opinion. The team played well after that.”
On Brighton’s decline and fading European hopes, Hurzeler took accountability. “In the end I am responsible for that, I have to find the right solutions,” the German, 32, added. “We know there are some things that aren’t perfectly ongoing.
“We’re struggling with availability, struggling with the connections on the pitch. We [make] too many individual mistakes. That’s why I’m here, to find solutions.”
Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle in an unbeatable new deal that saves £192 and includes 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.
Get the FREE Mirror Football newsletter with the day’s key headlines and transfer news straight into your inbox
